Art Appreciation
by loveandmagic
Summary: [Femslash] Ashley asks Claudia to help her with an art project.


Title: Art Appreciation

Author: Angelia

Pairing: Claudia/Ashley

Rating: K+

Notes: A very overdue fanfic for the Claudia round at the Short Takes community at livejournal. Takes place during their junior year. Feedback is love. Praise is nice. Flames aren't. If you don't have anything to say that will help me become a better writer, then don't say anything. It's pretty simple. I'm wary about posting this here, but I'm taking a chance.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Property of Ann M. Martin and Scholastic. I'm just borrowing for creative purposes.

"Claudia, I'm glad I caught you before school started," Ashley Wyeth said when I got to my locker Friday morning. "I was wondering. Do you have any plans this weekend? I've got an art project in mind and I could really use someone of your talent to help me."

I stared at her in surprise. Ashley is one of the most talent artists our age. She's probably more talented than I am and I'm pretty good. I was thrilled that she wanted my help with one of her projects . Ashley was known for her creative projects. She has even been mentioned in the newspaper a few times since we started at SHS. Luckily I was free. "I'm all yours."

Ashley smiled. "Awesome. I'll meet you here after school and we'll walk to my house."

"Sounds good." The warning bell rang. "I guess I better get to math," I said, wrinkling my nose in disgust. I hated math and I longed for the day where I'd never have to take another class on the subject again.

"Later then." With a wave Ashley left my locker and I went to the dreaded class.

BSC

Ashley standing at my locker when I showed up twenty minutes after school ended. "I'm sorry. My English teacher wanted to talk to me about my assignment." I hated English just as much as I hated math. I wished I was older so I didn't have to worry about non-art related classes.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Not a problem. We should really get going."

I quickly got the stuff I needed out of my locker. Barely giving me time to close the door, Ashley practically dragged me out of SHS. We raced over to her house. I wasn't sure why we were in such a hurry. We had the entire weekend. Then again Ashley was always serious about her projects.

"So, what's the project?" I asked when we stopped in front of the stone steps at the front of her house. I put my backpack down on the ground.

"We're painting these," she said pointing at the steps. "Look how boring they are. It's the perfect canvas. We can make it a work of art."

I nodded in understanding. The steps were pretty ugly. Doing anything with them would be an improvement. "What did you have in mind?"

Ashley shrugged. "I didn't really give it much thought. I figured we just go with the flow."

I stared at the steps in concentration. "It could be cool to do a neighborhood theme. Maybe paint the view from across the street. You've got a poloraid camera?"

Ashley nodded and rushed inside her house. She came back two minutes later with the camera and handed it to me. "Go for it."

I dashed across the street and took a few pictures. I had a feeling it was going to be a good project. I had no idea if Ashley even had permission to paint the steps, but I really didn't care. I was positive once Ashley's parents saw how cool the steps looked when we were finished they would love them. I went back to Ashley and handed her the pictures. "Let's get started."

Ashley spread the pictures on the top step and she picked out two of them. She handed me one of them. "I'm glad I decided to involve you in this. I probably would have ended up painting flowers on them or something."

I shook my head. "I doubt it. You're one of the most talented student artists I know. You would have come up with something brilliant. I'm sure of it."

"That means a lot coming from you. Thanks." She stared at me for a couple of moments, then she grabbed my backpack and her camera. "I'll take these to my room and I'll get my paints while I'm there."

While she was gone, I looked over next door to the Rodowsky's. I stopped baby-sitting about a year ago. I had to get focused on school work so I could get the grades I needed. I really wanted to get into the art school I wanted and I needed a B average to do it. It was a sacrifice that I didn't regret.

Ashley came back with her paints and a couple of paintbrushes. She handed me one. "I'll do the fire hydrant. You can start on the house."

We got to work. "This is going to be dribbly fresh," I commented after getting the main shape of the house finished.

Ashley looked up and tilted her head at me while still painting. I was impressed by how Ashley did that. "That's good right?" I nodded and Ashley smiled. "It will be," she said with all the confidence in the world.

We continued painting and talking about nothing in particular. It felt good to hand out with a fellow artist. I love my friends and family dearly, but sometimes I longed for the company of someone who truly understood what I loved about art.

"Been seeing anyone special lately?" Ashley asked, after a few minutes of silence. I was surprised that she was curious about my social life. Ashley was always about how one should focus on their talents instead of doing what she called unimportant things. Like babysitting for instance. She always thought I should drop out of the Baby-sitters Club during the eighth grade to be more serious about my art.

I stopped working and looked at her. "I haven't been seeing anyone lately. I've been focusing on school and my art." Apparently pleased with my answer Ashley smiled and I went back to work. Since we were on the subject of boyfriends, there was something I wanted to know. "I've never seen you go out with anyone," I observed as I put the finishing touches on the house. "Hasn't there been any guy you liked?"

"Not really. I just never felt the same way about guys as I did about art." She paused and stopped painting to look at me. "Or you." She went back to work and finished the fire hydrant she was working on, then leaned over and kissed me.

I'd been curious about what it would be like to kiss a girl since I started high school. Janine told me it was natural for people my age to be curious about our sexuality. That experimenting with it was perfectly okay. I just never had the opportunity to do so. I wished I had found the opportunity. The kiss felt right. I felt something I never did with any of the boys I've dated. When Ashley started to lean back, I pulled her back to me and returned the kiss. It was even better. Better than chocolate even. Coming from me that said everything I needed to know. I smiled at her. "We should get this done." All we had was a fire hydrant and a house.

"Yeah, we should." She picked back up her paint brush and painted a red heart on my left hand. "Then again we could always take a break."

I smiled. I was hoping she would say that. "I'd like that. A lot."

"Good." She took the paintbrush I was still holding out of my hand and kissed me again. I knew we would take the entire weekend to finish the project. It would be worth it.

The End


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